


figure my heart out

by cresswell



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Homesick Lance (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-16 01:06:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11817996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cresswell/pseuds/cresswell
Summary: "You know, I didn't think you'd actually go through with it."Keith is slouched in the shadows, arms crossed tensely. Lance presses a palm to his thundering heart. "Jesus Christ, man! Are you trying to kill me?"





	figure my heart out

It's Keith who eventually stops him, because of course it is.

He'd packed only what he could carry in his backpack, which isn't much-- some clothes, some nonperishable food items, a water bottle, and a pocketknife from home-- and takes in one final sweep of his room before leaving it behind forever. During his time in the castle, he hadn't exactly had lots of downtime to decorate his room, but it has traces of him nonetheless. He'll miss it even though he'd never really considered it home.

He closes the door, the wood cast in a dark blue sheen in the nighttime glow of the castle, and heads for the flight deck. Everyone's rooms are spaced out far enough that he's not concerned about tiptoeing, so he walks quickly so he won't get the chance to be sad and change his mind.

He's almost to the flight deck when a voice makes him jump out of his skin. "You know, I didn't think you'd actually go through with it."

Keith is slouched in the shadows, arms crossed tensely. Lance presses a palm to his thundering heart. "Jesus Christ, man! Are you _trying_ to kill me?"

Keith rolls his eyes and takes a few steps forward. With his face no longer hidden in the dark, Lance can see signs of exhaustion. "Oh, come on. You can't honestly be surprised to see me."

"Well, I am. I wasn't exactly expecting to see anyone, hence the sneaking around in the dark of night." Lance pauses to rub his chin. "I might have expected Hunk, or Pidge,  maybe, but certainly not--"

He cuts himself off, feeling guilty and rude, but Keith puts it together anyway, his mouth a tense line. "You think I'd just let you go run off to fraternize with some aliens?"

Lance splutters. "First of all, I am not running off to go _fraternize_ with anybody! And second, I didn't think you'd figure it out."

Keith narrows his eyes. "Lance, please. Give me some credit."

"Pidge didn't," Lance argues, his voice dull and defensive. "Shiro didn't."

Now there's something on Keith's face akin to pity, all his features softening, and Lance hates that. "Don't feel bad for me," he warns, holding up a hand between them. "I don't want you-- or anyone-- to feel bad for me. I'm doing what's best for the team."

Keith cocks his head, looking genuinely puzzled. "And what's that?"

"Leaving," Lance says, like it should be obvious. "Removing myself from the picture."

Now the look on Keith's face is one Lance can't quite place. "What-- are you running away? Lance, why?"

"Because there's no room for me!" Lance snaps, flinging his arms wide. "I fit perfectly before, but now everything's different and I don't have a place here anymore!"

"Because-- because Allura's with Blue?"

"No," Lance replies, although there's a tiny part of him that does feel betrayed by his former lion. "I love Allura. She's one of the best of us, and that's why she should stay with Blue, and I should go."

"But-- Red."

"Red's yours," Lance replies, waving a hand impatiently. "Or Shiro's, or whatever you guys decide to do. I don't know. I don't care. All I know is that there's five lions and six paladins and the weakest link has got to go."

"Lance," Keith says, his voice soft and pleading, "you are not the weakest link."

Lance snorts. "Oh, is that so? Is that why you guys are always treating me like I am?"

Keith looks stricken. "Lance--"

Lance rubs his forehead tiredly, suddenly feeling drained. "Forget it. It doesn't matter. Just let me go, man. It's what's best."

Keith's face screws up in a mixture of anger and confusion. "Best for who?"

"For you, for me, for us." Lance frowns. "For _all_ of us."

"Lance, no." Keith suddenly grips Lance's sleeves, his eyes wide. "Don't say that. It's not true. None of us think that." Lance tries halfheartedly to pull free, but Keith just grabs his wrists instead. "You're part of what keeps us together, okay? You've been here since the beginning. There's no way Voltron could go on without you."

"But--"

"No," Keith interrupts, his voice gentle. "You can't argue with me on this one. We can't go on without you."

For a moment, Lance is at a loss for words. Keith looks more open and vulnerable than Lance has ever seen him, his eyes wide and pleading, and it throws Lance off a bit. Surely, if Keith of all people is saying these things, they must be true.

But it's not quite enough. Lance gently pulls himself free, ignoring the way Keith's hands grab at him again. "I appreciate what you're trying to do here, man, but come on. You've never liked me. Me being gone will be a _relief_ for you."

He doesn't realize how much the thought stings until he says it aloud, and he can barely hold his teasing grin in place. Keith looks hurt for a second, like he can't believe Lance would think such a thing.

"I don't know how you can think that," Keith says finally, his voice soft. "After everything, how can you think I'd ever want you gone?"

The silence that hangs between them is heavy but soft, and Keith's eyes are wide and bright in the dark blue of the ship. "And besides," he goes on, his voice catching awkwardly, "where are you gonna go, Lance? Do you even have a plan?"

Lance leaned away, the reality of the situation dawning more heavily on him. "Home. I'm going home."

" _How?"_ Keith's hand yanks Lance back as he tries to duck around. "We're too far away, Lance, and you know that. And even if that weren't the case--" Keith inhales sharply, raking his hand through his unruly hair. "Lance, just stop."

"No." Lance shakes his head almost wildly. "I can't."

"Just stay."

"I can't!"

"Just _stay."_

"Why?" Lance explodes, the rest of the sleeping castle be damned. "There's nothing here for me anymore!"

Keith, apparently giving up on words, pulls Lance in by the straps of his backpack. Lance only has a moment to squawk in surprise before Keith's mouth is on his and he finds that nothing else matters in the world but this. He suddenly can't remember what he was doing before this or how he ever even  _survived_ without this-- without Keith's mouth on his, their chests pressed together.

It's been a while since Lance has been kissed, so it takes him a moment to respond. Keith is warm and solid against him, his lips soft but insistent, pleading with him not to go. Lance slides his hand into the tangle of hair at Keith's neck, his fingers curling to hold him in place. Keith makes a foreign noise when Lance's fingers brush his skin, and Lance remembers suddenly why he likes kissing so much: it's the best way to get to know someone. Keith's hands let go of Lance's backpack and move instead to his face, his fingers gripping Lance's jaw just tightly enough to be commanding:  _Don't go._ Lance doesn't understand how Keith's mouth is so soft but his kisses are so solid and sure.

"You really think this will stop me?" Lance says, although Keith continues to kiss him, so it comes out a jumbled mess. "You think you kissing me will change my mind?"

Keith pulls Lance in suddenly by his hips, and Lance gasps as they're pulled flush together. "Yeah," Keith says, his voice gravelly, staring up at Lance. "I do."

Lance likes the feel of being close to him like this, so he doesn't argue. He lets Keith lean up and kiss him again and again and again until he can't tell one kiss from the next, or his mouth from Keith's. Keith's urgency ebbs away slowly, and their kisses go from erratic to slow and hazy, arms draped across shoulders and noses nudging cheeks.

"Would you have done this," Lance asks eventually, his bottom lip slipping out from between Keith's, "if I hadn't tried to leave?"

Keith studies him, his lips gloriously swollen and pink. "Yeah. But it would've taken me a while."

Lance lifts a corner of his mouth. "I would've made the first move."

Rolling his eyes, Keith says, "Well, then you can make the _next_ move. Happy?"

Lance shrugs. "I'll take it."

"So you'll stay." There's a hint of hope in Keith's voice, but it's hesitant, like he's still not sure of what Lance's answer will be.

Lance is quiet for a long moment, in which Keith fidgets and squirms in front of him. "Yeah," he says finally, his gaze on Keith's mouth. "I'll stay."

"You do belong," Keith says quietly, gripping Lance's hands in his. "And there _are_ things here for you, I promise."

Lance raises an eyebrow. "Like you?"

Keith lets out an annoyed huff. "Maybe," he says. "If you play your cards right."

"A challenge," Lance says, already ghosting his mouth over Keith's again. "I like it."


End file.
